Endless-chain conveyer



no Model.) a s eets-431186: 1. G. W, McGASLIN,

ENDLESS CHAIN GONVEYER.

g gtentediAiig. 22, 1893.

3 Sheets-Sheet G. W MGCASLIN. ENDLESS UHAIN CURVE YER.

No. 503,870. Patented Aug. 22, 1893.

(No Model.)

7 Q\ g Q 3 t e e h S m e e h s 3 N L S A G c M m (No Model.)

' ENDLESS CHAIN GONVEYER.

I Patented Aug. 22, 1893.

I oat/ante)? 6%,; 1% 1 Mil 01 5 UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE.

GEORGE W. MCCASLIN, OF I-IOBOKEN, NEW JERSEY.

ENDLESS-CHAIN CONVEYER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 503,870, dated August22, 1893.

Application filed April 8, 1393. Serial No. 469,622. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE W. MGCASLIN, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Hoboken, in the county of Hudson and State of NewJersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Endless-Chain Conveyers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the class of endlesschain conveyers whereingravity buckets are pivotally hung in a chain which has wheels runningon a track; and the object of the in vention is, in the main, to providethe buckets of the conveyer with plates or lips which pro ect out andoverlap in such a manner that the lip on one bucket overlaps the lip onthat next adjacent, whereby, when the buckets are moving along ahorizontal or slightly inclined track at the loading point, the coal, orother material running into the conveyer from a chute, will not fallbetween the buckets. Means have before been devised and employed toattain this desirable end, but I find it important to confine the meansused to the buckets themselves for the sake of economy in construction,in space occupied, and in power; and in order also to increase thedurability of the conveyer. But in order that such a conveyer may beadapted for general purposes and not be confined simply for use as anelevator, it is essential that means be provided for turning the emptybuckets on their return so that the lips or plates thereon may properlyoverlap, and my present invention includes such means.

In the accompanying drawings serving to illustrate the invention, Figurel is a somewhat diagrammatic elevation of a conveyor plant embodying myimprovements; and Fig. 2 is a cross-section of a part of the same. Figs.3 and 4 are views similar to Fig. 1, illustrating slightly differentembodiments of the invention.

My improvements are herein illustrated as applied to a conveyer plant ofsimple and well known form, wherein there is a lower horizontal track,an upright or ascending track, anjupper horizontal track and adescending track. These tracks are connected or continuous, and theendless elevator chain is mounted on wheels which run on the tracks.Various forms of drivers are employed with this class of conveyors, andas my present invention has nothing to do with the driver, I haveomitted this feature from the drawings.

The driver illustrated in my Letters Patent No. 486,789, grantedNovember 22,1892, may be employed, or indeed any other.

I have shown the conveyer arranged to receive coal or other materialfrom the bottoms of bins or pockets around which the endless trackextends in a vertical plane, to carry'the coal up to a higher level, anddump it into more elevated pockets or chutes.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, :1; represents the usual endless track onwhich the wheels, a, of the conveyer run. I), are the links which formthe chain, and c, are the buckets. These are pivotally suspended,gravity buckets. The buckets are hung between the pairs of links of thechain, their pivotal journals, (1, forming the axles for the wheels a.The bucket-s are so distanced by the links that a space is left betweenthem when they are on a horizontal track, and each bucket is providedwith two lips, 0*, one at each end, which, when the buckets are coupledtogether on the level, extend out more than half the distance to thenext bucket, whereby the lips on the adjacent buckets must, ofnecessity, overlap and thus jointly cover the space between the buckets.As shown in Fig. 1, the conveyer is adapted to move in the direction ofthe arrows: that is, they ascend at the left and descend at the right;and the lip 0* at the rear end of one bucket overlaps that on the frontend of the next following bucket. This enables the buckets to assume theproper position, by gravity, to retain their loads, when they begin theascent, as clearly seen at the left lower corner in Fig. 1.

The material from the bins or pockets, 6, is delivered into the movingbuckets on the lower horizontal track through suitable chutes, c". Theremay, of course be one or more of these pockets, arranged in the usualway, and the conveyer plant may be of any length and any height. Whenthe buckets reach the upper track with their loads, they may be dumpedat any point by means of a suitably placed dumping cam, as g, placed onthe track at the proper point and in position to encounter a dumpinglug, c, on the end of the bucket. As this dumping mech- ZOO anism is notbroadly new, I have not deemed lt'necessary to minutely illustrate andde-;.

scribe it.

As the lips on the empty buckets would col lide as the buckets start todescend, I provide a cam, it, placed on the upper track near the; pointWhere the buckets pass onto the descending track. This cam engages the dumping lug c on the bucket, turns its advancing? end down and holds itdown until the next bucket ahead has got down on the descending trackfar enough to permit the tiltedbucket behind it to right itself bygravity without collision.

bucket. This is eifected by means of a cam h on the lower track.

To prevent the buckets from the loading between the overlapping lips'for the passage of fine coal or other material, I provide agu-ard rail,2', which extends lengthwise of the track over two or more buckets. cThis rail is fixed in position'so that the buckets move unlapping lips cIn Fig.- 3 I have shownthe} application of my gravity bucket provided?withia lip c at each end, to a conveyer wherein the bucket is hung fromthe middles of the} links, the wheel-axles being between the buckfor thereason that the 'lipson "the buckets- Will not pass the wheel-axles, Iprovide means empty bucket to turn completely-over at thepoint'where itstarts to descend to the lower axles are not placed between the buckets,

level. .This isrendered necessary for the reasons before explained. Along cam, h havinga cu-rveconcentricwith that of the track,

is fixed' on the latter at the'point where the buckets start on theirdescent. The buckets are turned in succession, and after passing downonto thestraightportion of the descendthe position seen at the right inFig. 3by the lips at the ends of the bucket bearing on or.

bucket in this position.

ing the buckets may'beemployed with the construction seen in Fig. 1,where the wheelthis is represented in Fig.4, in which case-the bucketsare held in position in their descent along the descending track bygravity, the overlapping lips on adjacent bucketsybeing pressed inopposite directions and into contact by that force. In this constructionof Fig. 4, which is preferred over that-of Fig. 1 for the reason that itobviates the necessity of usingtwo cams, hand h I employ as an auxiliarymeans for steadying the buckets in theirdescent, aguard rail '5 whichextends up along the descending track to prevent the rocking. ordisplacement of the buckets.

It will be observed that the bucket has tw o symmetrically placeddumping lugs c Plus is mainly for the purpose of enabling the buckets tobe turned end for end, ndlft'erently, or run in either direction atwlll. In the construction of Fig. 1, also, both lugs come into play, oneat the cam h and the other at the cam Jh I.

.The guard rail iperforms a special function in the construction ofFig. 1. If there were no device for preventing the tilting of thebuckets, in case two adjacent buckets were unequally loaded, there wouldbe-a collision at the point where the buckets leave the lower horizontaltrack and pass "onto the ascending track.

As I have stated, the plant may be ot any length, and the buckets on theupper track may be re-loaded after dumping for carryoscil-lating atpoint-and thereby forming a-space ing material along between points onthe upper track.

One advantage of my device of overlapping lips is that it avoids allspecial load ng mechanisms, and .enables't he buckets to be loaded atany number of points without add- 1 ing to the cost of construction andwithout derit, and it is arranged justabove-theoversame length, ofcourse, but it is preferable to make them so.

Having "thus described my invention, I

u 0laim ets. =As in thlscons'tru'ction thebuckets-cannot .make acomplete rotation on-their pivots,

1. An endless chain conveyer having a chain, with gravity bucketssuspended 1 v otally therein and provided each with a 11p at each end,the lips on adjacent'buckets for turning the buckets which compels eachioverlapping as set tor-th,and means, situated at the point where thebuckets approach the descending track, 'for tilting the buckets, theconstruction andarran-gement of said means being such thatthe-overlapping of the lips thereon willbechanged, forthe-reasons speci-2. In an endless'chain conveyeig-t he combination with the track,track-wheels and end less chain, of the gravity buckets suspended ,ingtrack they leave the cam and are held in at intervals in the'cha'in .andprovided with overlapping lips as described, and means substantially asdescribed for preventing the-collision of theloaded buckets'atthepoint'where they pass from the lower track to'the ascending track, asset forth. 1

'3. In an endless-chain conveyenth'e combination with the track,track-wheels and chain, ot the gravity buckets pivotallysuspended atequal intervals in the chain and each having a projecting lip at eachend, the lipson adjacent buckets overlapping as described, abucket-tilting cam on the track near the point where the buckets passonto the descending track, and a guard frail ex tending'up along thedescending track and in positionto prevent the empty buckets fromstantially as described for tilting the buckets and shifting the lap ofsaid lips when the buckets move onto the descending track, as set forth.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

GEORGE V. MCCASLIN.

Witnesses:

HENRY CONNETT, HERBERT BLOSSOM.

